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The Shield – 709 – Moving Day

“While last weeks episode was just utterly amazing, this weeks episode of The Shield is more a holding pattern. But don’t take it to mean that the episode was average with nothing interesting happening. It was a tense and powerful affair that showed us the world of the strike team with the smoke and mirrors shrouding it stripped away.

Just sitting down and listing the events themselves is staggering. First of all, any pretence of friendship between Vic and Shane is now gone. That blistering phone call between the pair of them revealed just how little they care for each other anymore, they’ve gone from being almost like brothers to divided to enemies in secret to out and out snarling hatred for each other over the past two seasons. We’ve reached the point now where there’s no going back for them one of them (or both) must die.Next up, Claudette has disbanded the strike team! There will be no replacement team in the Barn as long as Claudette can stop it. This means Julien has been put back in uniform and is on the street while Ronnie was delivered an ultimatum to either confess everything or lose his job. Ronnie shows just how much he’s developed over his time in the team, spinning a story that contained just enough of the truth to sell it without spilling too much. Claudette now knows Shane killed Lem.

We also saw how hard Shane and Vic are finding life without their badges, Vic was unable to get any information to help him track down Shane from a pharmacist while Shane was forced to swap a Lexus for a beat up car worth a fraction of the same value. Without their badges they’re almost powerless, Vic adapts fast but Shane has the added problems of his son – Jackson – who has hooping cough and the medication is in Vic’s hands.

Forced to go to a hospital in order to help their son Shane and Mara are confronted by Vic outside the main entrance. He’s half in the shadows hidden behind a corner with a desert eagle pointed at them and as he explained to Ronnie earlier if he gets the chance then Shane dies, Mara dies (her unborn baby dies) and only Jackson will be left alive because he’s too young to be a witness. Fortunately he’s spotted before he shoots and quick thinking on Shane’s part has some uniformed cops arrest Vic while the Vendrells flee.

There’s so much more to talk about besides the ongoing not-so-secret any more war between Vic, Ronnie and Shane. It seems that events between Dutch, Lloyd (the potential serial killer) and Lloyd’s mother are reaching a head. She’s realised that Dutch is playing the situation, but his revelation that Lloyd is a killer shakes her and eventually she begins to see the truth. Meanwhile Billings is approached by his ex-wife about a convicted sex offender who’s moved into her neighbourhood. When his attempts to intimidate the man into leaving fail he asks for Dutch’s help. Dutch refuses but Billings still plants evidence and has the man hauled back into jail.

There’s this and so much more going on in the episode, it was just tense and shocking throughout. Also, if it was possible the final few episodes promise to be even more tense and the finale may well become the greatest finale of all time. The Shield has been building towards this pay off for years, soon it will all be over. But until then, buckle up because this ride is about to go supernova!”